Letter: New solar array needs more light

Thank you for Marc Larocque's article about a community-owned solar array just unveiled in Rehoboth that allowed subscribers to buy a “lifetime's worth of energy” for $1,215 per panel. It sounds great!

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The Taunton Daily Gazette, Taunton, MA

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Posted Aug. 19, 2014 at 1:00 PM

Posted Aug. 19, 2014 at 1:00 PM

» Social News

Thank you for Marc Larocque’s article about a community-owned solar array just unveiled in Rehoboth that allowed subscribers to buy a “lifetime’s worth of energy” for $1,215 per panel. It sounds great!

But so many questions were unanswered: how much electricity is one panel expected to provide its owner per year? How many panels does an average homeowner have to buy to provide their full electricity needs? If you don’t use all your electricity some months, do you get a credit?

Where else in our area are community-owned solar arrays being established? Whom should readers contact to request a similar project in their area?

Since most of our electricity comes from fossil fuels, has the state Legislature considered instituting a carbon pollution tax on all electricity customers who don’t opt for wind or solar power? If the tax would start in two or three years, wouldn’t the legislation lead to a surge in new community-wned solar arrays and wind farms? Wouldn’t electricity buyers have incentive to change their electricity service?